Last Friday, elected officials, educators, students, labor representatives and community members came together for a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Brandywine Area 3-8 Academy School in Brandywine, Md.
“This project is being built with a project labor agreement,” said Jeffrie Long, the D.C.-Metro Director of the Baltimore-DC Building Trades Council, at the groundbreaking ceremony. “That means union labor. That means good-paying jobs for people who live right here.”
The project is part of Phase II of the Prince George’s County “Blueprint Schools” initiative. Eight new schools are planned under Phase II — six elementary schools and two pre-K-8 academies. The school was designed by Perkins Eastman Architects. It has a construction budget of $144 million and the general contractor is MCN Build.
“This project is being built with a project labor agreement. That means union labor. That means good-paying jobs for people who live right here.”
– Jeffrie Long, DC-Metro Director
Baltimore-DC Building Trades Council
“This project is being built with a project labor agreement. That means union labor. That means good-paying jobs for people who live right here.”
– Jeffrie Long, DC-Metro Director
Baltimore-DC Building Trades Council
Long is also a Maryland State Delegate, representing portions of Calvert County and southern Prince George’s County (District 27B).
“When we invest in our schools,” he added, “we can also invest in workers.”
The new Brandywine school is designed to accommodate over 1,500 students from 3rd through 8th grade, with a total capacity of more than 197,000 square feet.
According to a description of the project on the Prince George’s County Public Schools website, the new school will feature “flexible learning environments, specialized classrooms for science, art, and music, a modern media center, a full-size gymnasium, and dedicated wings for elementary and middle school students.”
“For too long,” wrote Long in an Instagram post, “southern Prince George’s County has experienced growth without matching investments. We’ve seen neighborhoods grow, families plant roots, and communities expand. But the infrastructure, especially in education, has not always been able to keep pace. Brandywine K–8 is a step toward rectifying that balance.”
Artist’s rendering of the entrance to the new Brandywine Area 3-8 Academy School. Photo: Prince George’s County Public Schools.
Attendees at the August 8th groundbreaking ceremony for the new Brandywine Area 3-8 Academy School shovel and toss the project’s first scoops of dirt. Photo: Prince George’s County Public Schools.